The management of Mediterranean mountains need to know whether or not the flora is adapted to respond to fire and, if so, through what mechanisms. Serpentine outcrops constitute particular ecosystems in the Mediterranean Basin, and plants need to make an additional adaptive effort. The objective of this study is to know the response to fire of the main members of the group of serpentine plants, which habit the Spanish Mediterranean ultramafic mountain, to help in their management. For this purpose, monitoring plots were established on a burned ultramafic outcrop, which was affected by fire in August 2012.They were located in the Mediterranean south of the Iberian Peninsula, Andalusia region. The dominant vegetation of this serpentine ecosystem had been studied previously to fire; it was a shrubland composed of endemic serpentinophytes (small shrubs and perennial herbs) included in Digitali laciniatae-Halimietum atriplicifolii plant association (Cisto-Lavanduletea class) in an opened pine forest. The post-fire response of the plants was studied in the stablished burned plots by field works through permanent 200 x 10 m transect methods, consisting on checking whether they were resprouters, seeders, both of them or if they showed no survival response. Additional information about fire related functional traits is provided for the studied taxa from other studies. Of the total of plants studied (23 taxa), 74% acted as resprouters, 30% as seeders, some of which also had the capacity to resprout (13%), and only 9% of the plants did not show any survival strategy. The presence of a resprouting burl was not high (17%), although serpentine small shrubs such as Bupleurum acutifolium and the generalist Teucrium haenseleri had this kind of organ. The herbaceous taxa Sanguisorba verrucosa, Galium boissieranum and Linum carratracense were seen to be resprouters and seeders. The serpentine obligated Ni-accumulator, Alyssum serpyllifolium subsp. malacitanum, did not show any survival strategy in the face of fire and therefore their populations need monitoring after fires. In the studied ecosystems no species had traits that would protect the aerial part of the plant against fire, although most of the species are capable of post-fire generation by below ground buds. Our results show that the ecosystem studied, composed of taxa with a high degree of endemism and some of them threatened, is predominantly adapted to survival after a fire, although their response capacity may be decreased by environmental factors.
The need for global energy conservation has become more urgent because of the negative effects of excessive energy use, such as higher fuel consumption, greater environmental pollution, and depletion of the ozone layer. There has been a significant increase in the demand for central and high-capacity household air conditioning systems in Muscat in recent years. The need for this is influenced by factors such as arid climate, increasing temperatures, air pollution, and population increase. As a result, there has been a significant increase in electricity use, putting a strain on power resources. To tackle this difficulty, the incorporation of solar collectors as supplementary thermal compressors in air conditioning systems offers a chance to utilise renewable energy sources. The objective of this hybrid technique is to enhance the effectiveness of cooling systems, hence minimising the need for electricity and lowering the release of environmental pollutants.
The integration of chatbots in the financial sector has significantly improved customer service processes, providing efficient solutions for query management and problem resolution. These automated systems have proven to be valuable tools in enhancing operational efficiency and customer satisfaction in financial institutions. This study aims to conduct a systematic literature review on the impact of chatbots in customer service within the financial sector. A review of 61 relevant publications from 2018 to 2024 was conducted. Articles were selected from databases such as Scopus, IEEE Xplore, ARDI, Web of Science, and ProQuest. The findings highlight that efficiency and customer satisfaction are central to the perception of service quality, aligning with the automation of the user experience. The bibliometric analysis reveals a predominance of publications from countries such as India, Germany, and Australia, underscoring the academic and practical relevance of the topic. Additionally, essential thematic terms such as “artificial intelligence” and “advanced automation” were identified, reflecting technological evolution in this field. This study provides significant insights for future theoretical, practical, and managerial developments, offering a framework to optimize chatbot implementation in highly regulated environments.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is a global priority, but effective implementation faces challenges. This bibliometric study analyzed the results of Indonesian STEM education research to elucidate publication and contributor patterns. The Scopus database was searched for Indonesian STEM education publications from 2019–2023 and produced 52 documents from 23 sources. The analysis found a negative average growth rate of −5.43%, with a peak of 14 releases in 2020, possibly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the output was relatively limited, the diversity of sources suggests wide-ranging interest. The leading authors were identified based on their productivity and impact on citation, with Wahono. emerging as the most influential worldwide. Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia was an institutional leader. The Journal of Physics Conference series dominated the contributions and emphasized the role of conference proceedings. Examination of the citations and text frequencies revealed key themes that include technology, engineering, pedagogy, and skills of the 21st century. Several widely cited works ensured international visibility. In general, this bibliometric analysis quantitatively mapped the landscape of Indonesian STEM education research, finding a decline in performance but a strong foundation of committed institutions and authors. The sustainability of production and impact requires targeted policies based on insight into existing strengths, productive scholars, and influential publications. The results provide an empirical basis for practices and policies for the effective development of STEM education in Indonesian schools.
Entrepreneurial resilience in regions is essential for enabling the entrepreneurial ecosystem to overcome natural disasters, catastrophes, wars, and various crisis situations it may face. However, this phenomenon has been underexplored in the literature despite its critical importance for business development, and consequently, for social progress. Therefore, the objective of this article is to conduct a systematic literature review to identify the antecedents of regional entrepreneurial resilience in situations of adversity. To achieve this goal, a qualitative, descriptive research approach was employed. Specifically, a systematic literature review was carried out following the PRISMA method, which included a total of 231 scientific articles retrieved from high impact journals. Of these, only 12% (27 documents) focused on regional entrepreneurial resilience. Five key antecedents of regional entrepreneurial resilience were identified: action orientation, the region’s historical precedents, opportunity exploitation, collaboration, resources, and preparedness. Additionally, it is suggested that future research should focus on understanding the impact of crises, identifying agile response models to crises, defining roles for each member of the entrepreneurial ecosystem to achieve economic recovery in regions, and analyzing the design of public policies that contribute to overcoming adversity. The study concludes that when a region is resilient, it is more likely to overcome crises and adversity.
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